Slipping Through The Cracks
by RowArk
Summary: When a fourteen year old Princess Emma from an alternate reality ends up in Storybrooke, Regina takes her in, and Regina and Emma end up falling through the crack to the young Princess's reality, and see what life would have been like if Regina never cast the curse, and the Charmings never put Emma in the wardrobe. Swan Queen ending after lots of heartfelt talks and moments :)
1. Lost Princess

**Slipping Through the Cracks**

* * *

 **To slip through the cracks:** to move, unnoticed, past elements intended to detect such things

* * *

 **Chapter One: Lost Princess**

* * *

"Sooo… what time am I supposed to be meeting you for our next lesson?"

"Emma," Regina turned to her, clearly annoyed, "I've told you at least a dozen times – ooph." Regina stopped short as she slammed right into someone on the sidewalk – or, rather, someone who had apparently come from nowhere slammed directly into _her_ , and had toppled to the ground. She looked down to see a young blonde in a long pink dress, trying to scramble up to a standing position.

"I'm so sorry," the girl started, but her green eyes grew large with fear when she saw Regina's face. "Your Majesty!" she cried, dropping to a kneel in front of her, bowing her head.

Regina's mouth gaped as she looked from Emma, around to the townsfolk who were starting to look on with interest, and finally down at the young stranger who was now trembling with fear before her. It had been quite some time since anyone had actually feared her presence, and it was unsettling, to say the least.

"It's quite alright, dear. Up you come," she said, putting a hand lightly on the girl's arm, trying to coax her back to standing again. The girl flinched, and stood, trying to avoid eye contact with Regina. Despite her attempt to hide her face, Regina still got a good enough look to recognize this girl almost immediately.

It couldn't be.

"Miss Swan," Regina said, suddenly, turning to Emma. "Can you please go back to the diner, I think I left my keys."

Emma looked at her, confused. "No, I don't think-"

"Now, Sheriff!" Regina insisted. Emma wasn't sure what was happening here, or why Regina had a sudden aversion to using her name, but she recognized the urgency in her voice, and headed back to the diner. She knew Regina's keys weren't there – the Mayor would never be so careless – but whoever this girl was, Regina clearly didn't want Emma around her.

When Regina was sure Emma was out of earshot, she turned back to the young blonde. "Can you look at me, please, dear?" Regina asked. Slowly, the girl lifted her eyes to meet Regina's gaze. "What's your name?"

The girl looked utterly perplexed at the question. Her green eyes darted around like she expected to be attacked at any moment. Given that she was dressed like a princess from the Enchanted Forest, and that she had just addressed her as 'Your Majesty', Regina guessed that very well may have been exactly what she was expecting.

"It's alright, dear, I'm not going to hurt you. Just tell me your name," Regina said, trying to sound as unthreatening as possible.

"It's… Emma," the girl said, meeting Regina's gaze again, in confusion.

Regina nodded. "I thought it might be. Who are your parents?" she asked, though she was fairly certain she knew the answer.

"S-Snow White and Prince James," the girl replied. Regina narrowed her eyes in confusion for a moment, before remembering that James was the name of the prince that David had impersonated; his late twin.

Regina made a cursory glance around the street. Everyone who had stopped seemed to have lost interest quickly. "Alright," she said, taking the younger Emma's arm gently, "come with me."

Regina couldn't help but notice the girl stiffened at her touch, but followed her nonetheless. Her green eyes took everything in around her with a look of wonder and complete confusion, as Regina took her across the street to Gold's Pawn Shop.

She didn't particularly like asking Gold for help on a good day, but a teenaged Princess Emma appearing out of nowhere was a little beyond her purview, and she wanted a little insight before she let this child see her adult doppelganger.

"Gold?" Regina called out, they entered the shop. Young Emma looked around in awe of the things around her, and seemed to make a conscious effort to move away from Regina the second she let go of her arm.

"Madam Mayor," Gold said, as he stepped out from the back room, "to what do I owe this…" his voice trailed off as he took in the sight of the young princess staring back at him.

"Rumplestiltskin," Young Emma whispered, taking a step back.

"It's alright, he won't hurt you," Regina assured her, though she was fairly sure it was useless, considered the girl was quite clearly terrified of her as well.

"My my… Wherever did you find her?" Gold asked, his interest clearly piqued.

"She just ran into me, on the street. She came out of nowhere. But Gold, she's Emma… but not _Emma,_ " Regina said, as if he wasn't already well aware. "How is this possible?"

Before he could answer, Emma Swan barged into the shop. "Regina, guess what? Your keys are not at the diner. Wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" Emma demanded, looking back and forth between Regina and the young blonde.

Regina sighed. She hadn't wanted Emma to encounter this younger Emma before she had some answers to give. She wasn't even sure _why_ , she just knew this situation was going to get messy, fast.

"I guess it's true what they say, if you passed yourself on the street, you wouldn't even know," Gold commented.

"What?" Emma asked, shaking her head.

"Emma, meet Emma," Gold shrugged.

" _What?"_ Emma repeated.

"Gold," Regina said, in a cautionary tone.

Gold sighed. "This… reality that we live it, it's not the only one, you know. Countless other realities run concurrent with ours. Parallel, but not touching… until they do. Once in awhile, a crack opens, allowing someone to pass through from one, into another. She just… slipped through the crack," Gold said. Emma shuddered at the phrase she had heard all too often growing up. Kids were always slipping through the cracks, and she was certainly one of them. Apparently, the knack for getting a little lost was innate, no matter which reality she was in.

"So, you're saying she's me, from another reality?" Emma asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. But she's not _you_ , she's herself. She's from a reality a few years behind ours, apparently," Gold said, turning to the younger Emma. "Tell me, dearie, where were you, before you were here?"

"I was…" Young Emma paused, glancing at Regina before continuing, "I was running, from the Evil Queen. I was in the woods and then I was… here."

"You should know, I'm not the Evil Queen here. Not anymore," Regina said, turning to the younger Emma.

"Yes, yes, we can all hold hands and sing Kumbaya later," Gold said, annoyed, before turning back to young Emma. "Tell me then, dearie, what do you know about the Dark Curse?"

"Um, the Queen threatened to cast a dark curse, before I was born but… she never did."

"Why?" Gold pressed.

"I… don't know."

"Gold, enough. It doesn't matter. Right now, we need to figure out how to get her back," Regina insisted.

"Well, that, dearie, won't be as easy as you think."

* * *

 **To be continued...**

 **This chapter is short because I'm kind of testing the waters, to see if people would be interested in this story... the rest will be longer :)**


	2. Emma Dilemma

**Chapter Two: Emma Dilemma**

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"So, what do we do then?" Emma asked, as the younger Emma watched her with keen interest.

"Wait for the universe to correct itself," Gold replied with a disinterested shrug, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Regina rolled her eyes. "That's it? Just wait for the universe to correct itself? What then, she just disappears again?"

"Precisely. There's no way to force a crack, and no way to predict when one will appear. Two Emmas in one reality will off-set the balance, however, and it will correct itself, in time."

"And in the meantime, what?" Emma pressed. "I just babysit my little mini-me over here?"

"Make no mistake, Emma, she's not a mini-you. She didn't have your life and she will never be you," Gold insisted. "We can only handle so much Emma Swan in one reality, you know."

Emma smirked, but didn't reply.

"But, yes, one of you will need to babysit, I suppose. And also be on the lookout for anyone else who may have slipped through," he added, looking pointedly at Regina.

"You don't think…" Regina started, trailing off before she mentioned the name of her former self. The word 'evil' still left a bad taste in her mouth.

"That you-know-who may have followed her through? Anything's possible, dearie," Gold shrugged.

Regina sighed and looked at the silent young princess, who was still fighting to avoid making eye contact, and then at Emma.

"Okay, we need to make a game plan," Emma said.

"I think she needs to stay with me," Regina replied, firmly.

"What? She's terrified of you," Emma insisted.

"She terrified of the Evil Queen," Regina corrected. "Whom, may I remind you, she was with when she slipped through this apparent 'crack', and whom, as Gold said, may also have followed her through. I'm the only person who can protect her."

"I could protect her," Emma insisted, taken slightly aback by Regina's assertion.

"Really? Tell me right now that if the Queen walked up to you, with my eyes and my face, you could kill her?" Regina pressed, her eyes taking on an intensity that put Emma a little on edge.

"Could you?" Emma countered back.

"Yes," Regina said, without a moment of hesitation. "I've been trying to destroy that part of me ever since the curse broke. I know you, Emma. You would try to win her over and make her see the good inside her. I would take her out in a heartbeat. It would be cathartic, I think."

Emma couldn't help but think that Regina looked like she was _hoping_ for a showdown with the Evil Queen, and Emma hoped to hell that wasn't going to be happening.

"Please, don't make me go with her," the younger Emma finally spoke up, her eyes pleading with Emma. "This is a trick. If you're me, you have to help me."

"I'm not… you," Emma said, shaking her head, "and Regina's not the Evil Queen. But she's right. You're safest with her."

The princess looked like she might cry, and Regina's heart sank. As easy as it already was for her to separate _this_ Emma from the Emma she knew, she couldn't help but feel guilty by proxy for whatever sins the Evil Queen in this alternate reality had committed. She couldn't blame the princess for being terrified, since she could just imagine how she would have terrorized the offspring of Snow White and Prince Charming in the Enchanted Forest, had she not cast the curse.

"Maybe… she's safest with both of us," Regina suggested, turning back to Emma.

"Okay, like…" Emma said, trying to follow her train of thought.

"As in, you both stay with me until the crack reopens and she goes home. I have more than enough room, and that way maybe she'll feel a little more at ease."

"How does that sound, Princess?" Emma asked. It seemed awkward to address this girl who was and yet wasn't her, by her name.

Wary green eyes passed back and forth between Emma and Regina, until the girl finally nodded.

Gold grabbed Regina by the arm as they started to head out of the shop. "Watch yourself, Regina," he cautioned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't give her the notion that all evil queens can be rehabilitated, just because you seem to think you were."

Regina shook her arm free of Gold, and gave him a final glare before heading back outside to join Emma… and Emma. Emma was on her phone, looking agitated, as the younger version of her just stared on, looking notably confused.

"Regina," Emma shook her head as she ended the call. "I have to go to the station, it's an emergency. I'm going to have to meet you at your place later."

"That's fine," Regina nodded.

Young Emma grabbed onto Emma's arm. "You can't leave me!"

Emma cringed. "Honey I… I have to. Listen to me: Regina's really not going to hurt you. And I'll be there as quick as I can. You are safe with her. I wouldn't leave my mini-me in danger, alright?"

Young Emma nodded, reluctantly, and looked at Regina out of the corner of her eye.

"Come along, dear," Regina said, reaching out her hand, but retracting it before making contact with the girl's arm, knowing how she flinched away every time she tried. "I think you'll find my home is not nearly as threatening as you are expecting."

Emma headed off in the opposite direction after reassuring them, again, she wouldn't be long, and Regina led the younger version down the street. She opted to walk back to the mansion, deciding that forcing the already frightened princess into a car when she didn't even know what a car was might just be too much for her. Walking was better.

"I'm… sorry, for whatever harm the Evil Queen has brought upon you, in your world," Regina said, as they walked. "But I'm really not her, and you really needn't be frightened."

"You do seem different than her," the Princess admitted, quietly. "From what I know of her, anyway."

"You said you were running from her?" Regina asked.

"Yes. Well, from her black knights and her carriage, but I'm sure she was inside," Emma explained.

"Why was she after you?"

"Rumplestiltskin made a potion that protected my parents from her. She couldn't hurt them, but she could still hurt me. They returned to him after I was born, and asked him to make another potion to protect me, and later my little brothers, but he refused every time. He said it couldn't help from inside his cell, and even when they offered to make a deal to let him out, he still refused."

"That potion was never about protecting your parents. It was always about manipulating me… well, her… and me, into casting the Dark Curse. I suppose with no Dark Curse, Rumple would have no interest in you, since you aren't the Savior in your world," Regina sighed.

The younger Emma studied Regina for a moment, and then continued. "Well, my parents forbid me and my younger brothers to ever leave the palace. There were large walls enacted around the courtyard, and we weren't allowed past. I knew it was meant to protect us, but one day I just… I wanted to get out," Emma sighed, clearly mentally berating herself for her own bad decision.

"You're a runner," Regina remarked.

Emma looked at her in confusion. "I suppose. I just wanted to see what was out there. The Queen – well, she's not even really the Queen anymore, but that's how she's still known - she has eyes everywhere, and it didn't take her long to track me down. And then, I was here."

Regina nodded, thinking about how that very well could have been her life, if she had never cast the curse. She would have been relentless at destroying Snow White's happiness, even if it meant destroying her first born.

She tried to shake the thought from her head. "You said you have brothers?" she asked, changing the subject, hoping that it would prompt the girl to relax a little.

Emma smiled. "Yes. They're twins. James and David, after my father and his late brother. They just turned seven."

"Well, we'll get you back to them, I promise," Regina said, though she had no idea if that was true.

Emma paused in front of the Mifflin street mansion as they approached.

"Not what you were expecting?" Regina asked, smiling.

"Honestly, no," she agreed, shaking her head.

"Well, come inside," Regina instructed, motioning for the princess to follow. "Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat."

Emma paused again, her eyes widening. Regina wondered if she might be debating whether whatever she had to offer would be poisoned.

"No apples, I promise," she said. "Come on."

Emma followed her in, reluctantly, and looked around. Regina brought her into the kitchen, so she could watch her make the sandwich, and be sure there really was no poison.

"Emma, I want to ask you something," Regina said, once they were both sitting at the dining room table. "Do you… do you have magic?"

Emma's eyes shot up in apprehension. "Why do you think that?" she asked, quietly.

"Because Emma, here, does. It's the result of being the product of true love. I can only guess you'd have the same."

Emma looked down at her plate, at her half eaten sandwich.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Regina pressed.

Emma didn't answer, and moments later they were interrupted by a knock on the door, which caused the princess to jump.

"It's alright, it's probably just Emma… well, you know, _my_ Emma. I mean, this Emma," Regina stammered, as she got up to answer the door. Her face flushed a little at the 'my Emma' – she had no idea why she'd worded it like that, and it disturbed her.

When she opened the door, she was greeted by not only Emma, but the Charmings as well.

Regina sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Why?" was all she could say.

Emma shrugged. "I told them what was going on, and they…"

Regina noted a hint of something in Emma's eyes that looked an awful lot like jealousy. "She's in the dining room," Regina said, motioning in the direction of the room. "I'm sure she'll be elated to see you again."

Emma kicked off her shoes and headed off. The Charmings moved to follow, but Regina put up her hand to stop them.

"Regina, we just want to see her," Snow insisted.

"Why?"

"Because, she's… well, she's Emma! We never got to see her at this age," Snow explained.

Regina just shook her head. "That girl might look like Emma, but she's not your daughter. She has parents and a family, and she's not here to satisfy your curiosity or to offer you some sort of second chance."

"Regina, in all fairness-" David started.

"No," Regina cut him off. "No 'in all fairness'. There is nothing fair about this situation, and I'm not letting you upset her more than she already is. You're going to look _exactly_ like the parents she's missing right now, and _that's_ not fair. You want to parent a child, you have a baby at home. Leave this girl alone."

Snow sighed at looked at her husband, who just shook his head, silently urging his wife to drop it. The Charmings left without any further discussion, and Regina sighed and pressed her back against the door, closing her eyes for just a moment. She knew she was being a little too harsh, but she couldn't help but feel fiercely protective of the younger Emma, as if shielding her from anything would make up for how the Evil Queen had been terrorizing her and her family.

As if it would make up for all the people Regina had terrorized in her reign as Evil Queen.

"Holy crap, Regina," Emma said, startling her. Regina opened her eyes to see both Emmas, now in the foyer, watching her. The image was unsettling, to say the least.

"They're not her parents," Regina shrugged. "They're yours. Letting Snow and David in would just upset her and probably hurt you, even though you'd never admit it, and…"

"I get it," Emma nodded. "So, now what?"

Regina looked back and forth between the two blondes. "Well, I was thinking… if she's going to have to go back to her reality, we're going to have to send her back equipped to face the Evil Queen."

"How exactly are we supposed to do that?" Emma asked.

"If anyone knows her weaknesses, it's me," Regina shrugged. "I'll just have to teach our little Princess how to hit where it hurts the most."


	3. My Emma

**Chapter Three: My Emma**

* * *

Regina looked at her watch. "I have to go get Henry from school," she said. "You two stay here. Emma, the less people who know about… this Emma, the better. If the Evil Queen is here, we need to stay ahead of her."

Emma nodded, and glanced at her younger look-a-like, offering her a reassuring smile. "It's gonna be alright, you know," she reminded her.

Regina sighed, very much aware that Emma had no idea what she would be up against if the Evil Queen really did slip through the crack as well. She knew Emma never looked at her as evil, but she was starting to realized that Emma had no idea how truly evil she had really once been. She hoped that Emma's fondness for her wasn't going to cloud her judgment.

"I'm going to put a protection spell over the house," Regina continued. "I'll fill Henry in on everything, and I'll be back as quickly as I can. Oh, and Emma, if you're hungry, there's leftover lasagna in the fridge."

"Not for long," Emma grinned. "And Regina, everything will be fine."

Regina nodded and headed out the front door, placing the strongest protection spell she could over the mansion, before poofing her car back to her house, and getting in to go get Henry.

Emma turned back to the young Emma. "You hungry?" she asked, as she headed to the kitchen to find the lasagna.

"The Qu- uh, I mean… she… made me a sandwich. I still have some left," young Emma said, following Emma into the kitchen.

Emma laughed. "Regina. Her name is Regina, and you can call her that," she said, as she fished the Tupperware container out of the fridge and popped off the lid before putting it in the microwave.

"Her name is Regina in my world, too," young Emma said, quietly.

Emma turned back to her, as she waited for her food to heat up. "I promise, you really, really don't have to be afraid of her. I've known her for a few years now, and I'm still alive. My parents have no protection magic in this world, and they're still alive. She's not evil here, I swear."

"Who's Henry?" young Emma asked.

Emma laughed again. "Okay, this is going to be a little complicated. Henry's my son, and also Regina's son. I gave him up for adoption, and she adopted him. When he was ten, he brought me here, to break Regina's curse, and I did. And now we're like a weird kind of family, but we make it work," Emma explained.

"You broke the dark curse? The Qu- uh, Regina, said I'm not the savior in my world. Does that mean you are the savior here?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Emma agreed, as the microwave dinged and she reached for her food. She lead the way back into the dining room, where young Emma sat down to pick at her sandwich some more, while Emma showed no restraint wolfing down the lasagna.

"You already were family, though," young Emma pointed out. "Is she not your step-grandmother here?"

Emma scrunched her nose up and shook her head. "I try not to think about her like that. It's just… it's weird. We're friends here. And co-mothers."

Young Emma nodded, and then a small smile crept onto her lips.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Your father… Regina called him David. My father is David, too. Everyone in the Kingdom thinks he's his brother, James. I guess that means he doesn't have to hide, here?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah, he can just be David here."

"Inside the palace, my mother calls him 'Charming'."

Emma smiled. "Mine, too."

Emma watched her younger counterpart as she continued to slowly eat her sandwich. The reality started to hit her that this really could have been her, if some circumstances had been different. She knew she was meant to be a princess, but the thought of that had never really been tangible before in her mind. Now, looking at this girl, she could see who she was meant to be all along: the sweet young princess growing up in a palace with her parents.

But then again, this girl would never meet Neal and never have Henry. And Regina wasn't her friend, she was an evil witch who was hunting her down. Emma decided that the princess status wouldn't really be worth it, considering what the price would be.

Plus, pink? _Really?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and Henry's hurried footsteps coming down the hall.

"Oh, wow, it really is you!" he exclaimed, as he laid eyes on the princess.

"Emma, this is Henry," Emma said. The princess stood and curtseyed.

"That's really not necessary," Regina said, as she came up behind Henry. "We left a lot of the old world formalities in the Enchanted Forest."

"So, what now?" Emma asked, as she dropped her fork into the now empty Tupperware container.

"Did you eat _all_ that lasagna?" Regina said, raising an eyebrow.

Emma shrugged. "I was hungry. And it was delicious."

Regina shook her head. "Well, now, my dear, you get to help Henry with his homework, while Emma and I talk about how we're going to handle this," Regina said, motioning towards young Emma with her eyes.

Emma groaned and got up. "Please tell me it's not math, kid!"

Henry laughed. "Sorry," he said, as he started to head out. Emma followed him up to this room, while Regina led young Emma into the living room.

"Before, when we were talking, you seemed to get upset when I asked you about magic. Can you tell me why?" Regina asked, as they sat down on the couch.

Emma looked down and started playing with the soft fabric of her dress, nervously.

"If you have magic, I need you to tell me," Regina continued, when the princess made no attempt to speak up. "You can use it to protect yourself."

"My parents don't know," she whispered, finally. "My mother says magic will darken your soul. I don't want to turn…."

"Evil?" Regina offered. Emma looked up, seemingly surprised. "It's alright, you can say the word. But Emma, if your magic is anything like my Emma's magic, you don't need to worry. It's as light as can be. Light magic can't blacken your heart." As the reality of the situation started to settle in, Regina found she wasn't so bothered by her newfound tendency to refer to Emma as 'my Emma'. She meant it for clarity, but she actually kind of liked the way it sounded.

Emma looked up to meet Regina's gaze, studying her dark eyes. Regina could see all of the apprehension and fear that still plagued those wary green eyes, and decided perhaps it would be best to stop pushing, for now. "I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do," she said, "but I can teach you to use your magic, if you want me to. I've been teaching my Emma for a while now."

"Then couldn't Emma teach me?" young Emma asked, hopefully.

Regina wondered if the prospect of learning magic from the former Evil Queen who looked just like this Emma's current Evil Queen was just too much to process at the moment. "No, she can't. She's not ready. But she could help. You wouldn't have to be alone with me, doing magic, if it makes you uncomfortable."

Emma nodded again, looking a little defeated. "Can I think about it?"

"Yes, dear, absolutely," Regina nodded. She hoped the child would make up her mind quickly, however, since she had no idea how long they would have before the crack reopened. The first crack landed the girl face to face with Regina, and Regina feared the same thing happening when a crack opened to take her back.

"Why didn't you let your Snow White and David in your home?" Emma asked, tentatively, after a prolonged silence.

Regina smiled. "It wasn't because of bad blood, if that's what you're thinking," she said. "Snow and I are… well, I'm sure she'd say friends. I don't know if I'd go that far, yet, but we did make amends and we do get along. She's my son's grandmother, after all."

"So then why?" Emma pressed.

"Because… in this reality, they didn't meet Emma until she was twenty eight. They missed her at fourteen, and they want to see you because of it, and I was worried about Emma getting hurt. And you, too. They're not your parents, they're hers, and I needed them to understand that."

"You seem protective over your Emma," the young princess remarked.

Regina let out a small laugh. "Stick around long enough, dear, and you'll see it's actually very much the other way around. Emma feels protective over me."

"But why? You're the…" Young Emma's voice trailed off, as she still opted to avoid the 'E' word, "I mean, why would you need protection?"

"Emma, the Evil Queen is not nearly as strong as she'd like you to believe. Trust me, I know."

"My mother thinks there's no chance she could be rehabilitated," Emma continued, "but here… I mean, you and Emma… maybe…"

"Emma and I have gotten to the place we are at because we've been to hell and back together, several times. It wasn't an easy road, and it took a lot of perseverance on her behalf. On top of that, I had a reason to compel me to change, which was my son, Henry. Your Evil Queen… she may never be able to get to this point," Regina said, sadly.

"You wouldn't have, if not for Henry?" Emma asked.

"Honesty, no, I don't think so," Regina admitted.

"You're friends with Snow White, you have a family with Emma," Emma said, recounting everything she had learned.

"Emma and I don't have a _family_ ," Regina insisted. "We just happen to share a son."

"Oh. She said family. I just assumed that's how you both looked at it. I'm sorry," Emma said, blushing a little.

"It's alright," Regina nodded, patting Emma's hand. This time, the girl didn't flinch. "Go on, what were you going to say?"

"Just that… if you could change, then that means it was in you to change. It must be in her, too, right? Do you think the goodness in you could have ever been snuffed out completely?"

Regina drew in a deep breath, and thought about that for a moment. "I killed my own father," she said, finally. Emma drew her hand back at the confession, but didn't take her eyes off of Regina's. "I do think it could have been."

"My Evil Queen's father is still alive," Emma said.

Regina raised her eyebrow. "The heart of the thing I loved the most, that was the final ingredient for the Dark Curse. Perhaps she couldn't go through with it."

"Well, it would have been difficult to obtain," Emma commented.

"What do you mean?"

Emma looked at her, confused. "Well, because Cora has it."

Regina felt her heart drop to her stomach. "Cora's alive? In your world, she's alive?"

Emma nodded. "Is she not, here?"

Regina shook her head, but didn't offer any information on how Cora had come to be departed from life in this realm. "Your reality and ours may be a lot more different than I had originally thought," she acknowledged. "Is Cora in the Enchanted Forest?"

Emma nodded. "She's with the Queen in the Dark Palace. They rule together, essentially. They aren't monarchy, but they have such powerful magic that they rule by fear."

Regina sighed. "Wonderful," she said, sarcastically. "Now we have two evil witches to go up against."

"We?"

"Emma and I, we're going to do everything in our power to equip you for when you return, whether you choose to learn magic or not."

Emma looked down at Regina's hand, which was still sitting on the couch where it had dropped when Emma had pulled hers away. She reached out, tentatively, and put her hand over Regina's. "I want to learn magic."

Regina smiled, and moved her hand to squeeze Emma's. "This is a war you can win, my dear. If I can't face her myself, I'm going to make damn sure you're ready."


	4. Chapter 4

****Chapter Four****

* * *

"Please tell me you learned to read Elfish?" Regina asked, as she poofed Cora's spellbook into her hand in a cloud of purple smoke. Young Emma gasped and her eyes went wide. "Are you alright, dear?"

"Yes, I've just… I've never actually _seen_ magic before," Emma confessed, breathing a heavy sigh. "And yes, I learned some Elfish. There's not much to do when I can't leave the courtyard, so I mostly read."

"Good. Well, not good that you had to grow up so isolated, but good that you learned. That will be helpful," Regina nodded. "Now, you magic is completely innate, which means it comes from inside you, and I'm going to teach you how to control it. Your magic is stronger than…." Regina let her voice trail off, as something else occurred to her.

"Stronger than what?" Emma asked, her eyes wide in anticipation.

"Do you know who Maleficent is?" Regina asked.

Emma nodded. "The sorceress who can turn into a dragon. She attacked the Dark Palace on my family's behalf."

"She did?" Regina asked, more than a little shocked.

"Yes. That surprises you?" the princess asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, actually. In my… well, in my reality, Maleficent and I were friends in the Enchanted Forest. Well, as friendly as two dark sorceresses hell-bent on revenge could be, I suppose. She tried to talk me out of casting the dark curse and convince me to let go of my anger. Obviously, I didn't heed her advice. What happened in your world?"

"It all happened before I was born, but my parents helped Maleficent protect her daughter," Emma explained.

"Lily," Regina nodded.

"Yes," Emma smiled, "they made a kind of deal, and Lily grew up under the protection of my Kingdom. We're friends."

Regina nodded, as her worries were confirmed. In the princess's timeline, Snow helped Maleficent, which had to mean she didn't push Emma's darkness into the child. _This_ Emma had all the potential for evil that had been removed from her Emma. Magic might not be as safe as she thought.

Then again, what other choice did she have?

"Come with me, dear," Regina said, standing. The princess looked apprehensive for a moment, and Regina was well-aware that she wasn't completely sold on her not being evil yet. "I need to talk to Emma about something. You can come and chat with Henry, and he can tell you what happened in this reality."

The princess nodded and got up to follow Regina upstairs to Henry's room. On Regina's advice, Henry pulled out his storybook and began to fill the princess in on everything that was different in this reality, while Regina beckoned for _her_ Emma to come with her.

"What's up?" Emma asked, once they were back downstairs and complete out of earshot with the two left upstairs.

"We may have an issue," Regina sighed. "I was just talking to… Emma, and as it turns out, _her_ Snow White and Prince Charming never put her darkness into Lily."

"Okay," Emma nodded. "So what does that mean?"

"It means that if we teach her magic, we run the risk of darkening her heart. There was no curse in her world. She's not the savior. She could become a villain," Regina explained.

Emma nodded slowly, processing the information. "So, if we can't teach her magic, then what can we do?"

Regina let out an exasperated sigh. "Magic is the only way I know to fight. It's the only way the Evil Queen knows, too. It has to be magic."

"Or," Emma said, grinning as she got an idea, "we could take magic right out of the equation."

"How do you propose to do that? Her Snow White already has her protection spell, which means they already used fairy dust on her, and you know from experience that that trick doesn't work twice."

"Right, I wasn't even thinking fairy dust. We have another way to block magic that the Evil Queen will know nothing about," Emma said, waiting for Regina to catch on.

"You don't mean the cuff?" Regina asked, shaking her head when Emma grinned. "We only have one, and it's currently in use."

"Yes, I know, but we also have an entire world without magic and only one small town that _does_ have magic, that can't be penetrated from the outside," Emma reminded her.

"So, what, we take Zelena over the town line, take the cuff back, and send it with Emma back to her world?"

Emma nodded. "You got a better idea?"

Regina sighed. "No. But what about Robin? Zelena is pregnant with his child, if you recall?"

"Yeah, well, in the real world there's a thing called custody. Robin can take her to court when the baby's born," Emma shrugged, as if it were a non-issue.

"I'll have to run it by him first," Regina sighed. "It's his child."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Do what you need to do, I guess. But remember, time is of the essence. And it's a matter of life or death for our little princess."

Regina nodded. "I'll go now. The house is under a protection spell. _Don't_ go anywhere."

Emma rolled her eyes again, "yes Mom!" she said, mockingly.

"Emma, I'm serious. We still don't know if the Queen came through the crack, and she will kill you as soon as look at you."

"I know," Emma nodded, looking more serious this time. "Go. We'll stay here. No one is getting in or out."

* * *

It didn't take Regina long to track down Robin. Not surprisingly, he was at the hospital, visiting Zelena… again.

"Hey," he said, leaning in to kiss Regina, but she backed away. She was already on edge, and Robin's frequent visits to Zelena irked her to no end.

"We have to talk," Regina said, pulling Robin to the side in the hallway. She filled him in on the lost princess and the alternate reality. He looked a little lost, but he had travelled to enough realms to understand that there was much in the world beyond their own world or even their own reality.

"So, what's the plan?" Robin asked.

"We need Zelena's cuff," Regina said, simply.

"But doesn't that leave Storybrooke in danger, if she has her powers back?" Robin asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"It would," Regina agreed, "if she were in Storybrooke."

"Regina, what are you saying?"

"We need to take her over the town line."

"Regina! She's carrying my child," Robin protested.

Regina cringed. "I know. But if we don't we will be sending a fourteen year old _child_ to her imminent death. Emma says you can fight Zelena for custody once the child is born," Regina explained.

"Oh, _Emma says,_ " Robin said, shaking his head. "Well, I guess if it's what Emma thinks is best, to hell with the rest of us, right? Always need to follow the savior."

Regina narrowed her eyes. "What is wrong with you?"

Robin paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Regina, I'm sorry that this other Emma is in trouble, but I will _not_ risk losing _my_ child because of it."

Regina's eyes went dark in a way Robin had never really seen before, and it startled him. "Fine. If that's how you feel, you might as well leave with her!"

* * *

After Regina had been gone a while, Emma got bored waiting for her downstairs and trudged back up the stairs to Henry's room, where the young princess was hanging on his every word as he told her all about the curse and Storybooke, and everyone's new identities.

Emma smiled and shook her head at the enthralled younger version of herself, as she flopped herself down on her stomach at the foot of Henry's bed, announcing her presence.

"What's going on?" Henry asked, nudging his mother in the ribs with his foot.

"Nothing," Emma sighed, swatting at Henry's foot, "just the saviors of Storybrooke trying to save the day, as always."

"Saviors?" the princess asked. "Aren't you the only savior?"

Emma shrugged. "Regina helps," she winked.

Henry rolled his eyes and looked at the princess. "More like Regina does everything and Emma helps."

"Hey!" Emma protested, though Henry's assessment wasn't completely wrong. Regina had proven herself a hero over and over again, and truthfully, Emma knew more often than not she'd be completely screwed if she had to deal with magical creatures attacking Storybrooke on her own.

"And," Henry added, "Emma might have broken the first curse, but Regina broke the second one."

"There were two curses?" the princess asked.

Emma smirked. "Yeah, Regina helped my mother – _our_ Snow White – cast the second one. And then she broke it. The irony."

The princess scrunched up her nose, confused as to what 'irony' meant, but she didn't get a chance to ask as Regina stepped into the doorway, holding up the cuff.

"Wow, that was fast," Emma commented, sitting up. It only took a second to register the distraught look on Regina's face, and she got up instantly, urging the brunette to leave the room as she followed. Henry got back to telling the princess more about Storybrooke as Emma and Regina headed back downstairs.

"So," Emma started, since Regina was making no attempt to speak first. "You took Zelena over the town line?"

"Yes," Regina sighed. "I took Zelena… and Robin… and Roland… over the town line."

"What?" Emma gasped, unable to mask her shock.

Regina nodded, drawing in a deep breath. "He wouldn't leave her," she said finally. "Emma, I know this isn't the time to deal with this, because we have so much else to worry about, but… he's down there every day visiting her. That's where I found him today. I'm so _stupid_. I should have known."

"Hey," Emma said, wrapping her arms around Regina. "You're not stupid. He's stupid."

In spite of herself, Regina let out a small laugh, as she brought her arms around Emma. She didn't cry, she just revelled in the feeling of being comforted. Hugs from anyone by Henry had been somewhat of a rarity in her life, and she cherished every one she got.

She didn't let herself get lost in the feeling too long, however. "We can talk about this more later," she said. "We have a princess to save right now."

"Yeah," Emma agreed. Regina was right, of course, but at the same time, Emma worried that she might not be so open about this in the future. It was a touchy subject in the first place, since Emma has been the one to unknowingly bring Zelena back into Regina's life, but she hoped the brunette would let her in and help her get through this latest heartbreak.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

* * *

"So, this cuff, it will render the Queen without magic?" the younger Emma reiterated, as she fiddled with the cuff in her hands, after Emma and Regina had explained the plan.

"Yes," Regina nodded.

"So all I have to do is get it on her wrist?" the princess asked.

"Yes, well, I don't think you should be the one to do it," Regina replied. "You need to keep it with you, until the crack reopens, so you can take it with you into your world. Give it to your parents, ask them to get help from the Blue Fairy."

"The Blue Fairy?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you hated her?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, the feeling is mutual, trust me. I can only imagine it's the same in her world, and so Blue should be _more_ than happy to help."

"So, does this mean I don't have to learn magic?" the princess asked, finally.

Regina sighed. "I don't know if learning magic is the best idea," she admitted. "At least not from me."

"Alright," the princess agreed quickly, as she hadn't really been keen on the idea of learning magic in the first place.

"So, now, what? We just wait?" Emma asked.

"Apparently so," Regina agreed. "Are you hungry? I could make dinner," she offered, looking at the time.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Emma laughed.

* * *

Emma sat across from her teenage doppelganger at the dinner table, regarding her polite table manners with amused curiosity. She couldn't remember a time in her life that she ever took such delicate bites of food.

For her part, Regina seemed to notice, too.

"I hope you're learning something," she said, pointedly, at Emma.

"What? You don't like the way I eat?" Emma asked, in mock defense.

"You eat every meal like you haven't seen food in a week. And I know for a fact you just ate two portions of lasagna not even three hours ago. I don't know where you put it all."

Emma shrugged. "High metabolism, I guess. Savior-ing requires lots of energy."

"Apparently," Regina sighed.

Inwardly, Regina had to wonder if Emma's atrocious eating habits were the result of her upbring in the foster system. She supposed they must be, but the blonde never mentioned it, no matter how much Regina teased her, and Regina had decided maybe it wasn't her place to broach the subject. If Emma wanted to talk about it, she assumed she would do so when she was ready.

Shortly after dinner, Regina could see that the princess was all but falling asleep on the couch.

"Apparently reality-jumping also requires a lot of energy," she commented. "How about we get you set up in the guest bedroom?"

The princess followed Regina up the stairs, as Emma and Henry set up a video game. Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"You can borrow some pajamas," Regina said, as he offered the princess a pair of red silk pajamas. She knew her Emma would probably prefer to sleep in an old t-shirt or something, but this Emma was a princess and used to finer things.

"Thank you," the younger Emma smiled, as she took the pajamas from her. "For everything."

Regina smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. "There's an en suite bath-" she stopped herself as she realized this girl had no idea what a bathroom was. "Actually, follow me, I'll show you."

After an awkward crash course on the wonders of indoor plumbing, Regina also explained how the lights worked and asked the princess if she had any more questions.

"Uh, I don't think so?" she stammered, a little overwhelmed by everything.

"My room's right there," Regina said, leading Emma back to the doorway and pointing out her bedroom door, "and Emma will be in that room," she continued, pointing out another door, "if you need anything at all in the night, come and get one of us, okay?"

The princess nodded. "Yes," she agreed.

"Good night, sweetheart," Regina said, placing a hand lightly on the princess's forearm, "and don't worry. Everything will be fine."

The princess gave a thin smile as Regina stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her.

* * *

After an hour, Regina had had quite enough of listening to Emma and Henry playing video games while she tried to read, and so she sent Henry up to his room to finish his homework before bed.

Emma put the game away and came back to join Regina on the couch.

"Hey," she said, as she pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Hey," Regina replied, not looking up from her book.

"You okay?"

Regina sighed, and put her book down. She looked at Emma for a moment, trying to decide what to say. "No," she said, finally, "not really. But I should be used to this by now."

"Used to what?" Emma asked, scooting a little closer to Regina.

"Losing," Regina shrugged. "Maybe some people just aren't meant to be happy. Gold thinks I should just take what I want and to hell with everyone else, but that's not who I am anymore. It seems to work for my sister, though."

"Do you really think your sister is happy?" Emma asked, seriously.

"Don't you? She has everything she wants."

"I don't believe that. She thinks her happiness will come from your suffering, but that's not happiness. That's just… sick."

"I thought my happiness would come from your mother's suffering," Regina pointed out.

"Yeah, and did it?"

Regina shook her head. "No."

"Exactly. Do you really think Zelena will be happy living with a man she doesn't love, and playing step-mommy to his kid, while having a baby that she probably doesn't want either? I know it sucks now, but I don't think you're going to lose in the long run. Robin will come back," Emma reasoned.

"What if I don't want him back?" Regina asked.

"Don't you?"

"I don't know. He made his choice today. Am I supposed to wait around for him to change his mind?"

"No," Emma agreed. "You're worth more than that. But what about the pixie dust? I thought it was never wrong?"

Regina laughed and shook her head. "No magic is foolproof," she shrugged. "I just can't believe that I would be fated to be with a man who always puts me second. Daniel always put me first. Always. Is it too much to want that again?"

Emma shook her head. "Not at all. Can I tell you something? Honestly?"

"Yes." Regina nodded.

"I never thought Robin was good enough for you."

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why didn't you say something before?"

Emma laughed. "What was I supposed to say? Hey, Regina, I don't like your boyfriend? I thought the dirty looks every time he was in the room would have given it away. Perhaps I was too subtle?"

In spite of herself and the situation, Regina had to smile. "Perhaps I should have taken a hint when you brought his wife back?"

Emma's smile dropped off her face, instantly. "Regina, you know I didn't know."

"I know," Regina nodded. "I was kidding. I thought a joke might let you know I'm over it. I mean, you did bring my crazy evil psycho sister back, but then again, I saved her life from that freezing spell, so I guess we both screwed up."

"Wicked," Emma corrected. "She's not evil, she's wicked."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, how silly of me." Suddenly, Regina's face fell. "This isn't going to work."

"What? What won't work?"

"I completely forgot: Emma told me Cora's in the Enchanted Forest. There's only one cuff!"

"What? How could you forget to tell me that Cora's in the Enchanted Forest?" Emma cried.

"Well, I was a little distracted!" Regina snapped back. Emma could tell by the look in her eyes that this was not the time to press the issue, and it wouldn't help anyway.

"Okay... so what do we do?"

"We have no other choice. She's going to have to learn magic, and we're going to have to hope that the light in her is strong enough to protect her heart."

* * *

It was well past midnight when Regina was ripped from her sleep by a shriek from another room. It took a moment for her to orient herself, and remember that it wasn't just herself and Henry in the house tonight, she had not one, but _two_ Emmas there as well.

So which was was screaming?

She took a guess, and checked the princess's room first, and quickly discovered she'd picked right.

The girl was frantically flailing in her bed, but not quite awake. Regina made her way across the room quickly, and sat on the edge of the bed before shaking the younger Emma's shoulders to wake her.

"Emma? Emma wake up," Regina said.

Emma's eyes shot open, and widened with fear as soon as she saw who had their hands on her shoulders. She cried out again, and moved away from Regina as quickly as possible, and it didn't take much for Regina to figure out _who_ Emma's nightmare was about.

"Shh, sweetie, it's okay. It's okay, it was just a dream. You're safe. I'm just Regina, remember?"" Regina spoke in a hushed voice, trying to calm the agitated princess down. She reached out a hand to try to touch Emma's shoulder, but Emma reacted with an offshoot of magic. A bright white blast left her fingers as she pulled her hands up to shield herself from Regina, resulting in a smashed mirror across the room.

"Oh, no," Emma breathed, looking at her hands in disbelief, then to Regina with wide, questioning eyes.

"It's okay, it's just magic," Regina assured her, flicking her wrist to return the mirror to normal. "It's out of control because you're scared. Just try to calm down."

Emma took in a few deep breaths, and seemed to relax a bit, and Regina hoped that meant she was remembering where she was, and who _she_ was, and that the Evil Queen was far, far away.

"I dreamed she was after me," Emma whispered.

"I guessed as much," Regina nodded. "Perhaps I wasn't the best person to wake you."

"I'm sorry," Emma said, pouting at the thought that she had offended her hostess in her home.

"Nonsense. You didn't do anything wrong."

"I broke your mirror," Emma pointed out.

"And I fixed it," Regina shrugged. "You were upset, it wasn't your fault. But it was just a dream, sweetheart, you don't need to be afraid."

Emma nodded. "I know it was just a dream, but it's going to happen, still. I'm going to go back and she's going to come after me again. I'm not really safe."

Regina sighed. The girl had a point. Her safety was an illusion, and they had no way of even knowing how long that illusion would last. "Do you want me to stay with you?" she asked, without thinking. When Henry had nightmares, Regina would often stay with him until he fell asleep, but she was never the subject of his nightmares and the source of his fears.

To her surprise, the princess nodded. "My mother does that when I have a bad dream," she explained. "I feel safest when she holds me. I miss her so much." That was all it took for the tears to start to fall, and Regina wasted no time scooting closer to the girl and wrapping her arms around her.

"I know you miss her," she said, stroking Emma's soft blonde hair. "You'll be back with her soon, I promise.

The princess relaxed into Regina's embrace as they settled down onto the pillow, Regina intending to cuddle Emma back to sleep, as she had done to Henry when he was much younger.

"Tomorrow, my dear," Regina said, before Emma could drift off fully, "we will need to teach you how to control your magic."

"Okay," Emma agreed, nestling in closer against Regina.

Regina sighed as she stroked Emma's hair. It wasn't long before the princess fell back asleep, but Regina stayed awake long after, just in case she had another bad dream.

And a disturbing thought occurred to her: when the crack reopened and this Emma went back, they would have no way of knowing what happened to her. She shuddered at the thought that Emma could march right into her imminent death, and they would never even know it. She hugged the girl tighter, trying to shake that gruesome thought from her mind.

She wished she could have an ounce of the Charmings' annoyingly eternal hope at this moment. Lord knows they were going to need it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

"Okay, so where do we start?" Emma asked, turning to Regina as they, and the younger princess, stood in Regina's backyard, preparing for their magic lesson. Regina had decided against letting Henry go to school that day, despite the fact that no one had actually spotted the Evil Queen in Storybrooke yet.

"Where did I start with you?" Regina asked, as she flipped through one of her magic books.

"You destroyed the bridge I was standing on," Emma reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" the younger Emma asked, instantly panicked.

"Nice, Emma," Regina commented, shaking her head. "And that's not where we started. We started in Neverland, if you recall. Making fire. But our little Princess doesn't need to make fire, she needs to…"

Regina's voice trailed off as she saw a bright white light begin to emerge right in front of the young princess. It was quickly expanding, and getting brighter by the second.

"Oh no!" the princess cried, "it's happening again! It's happening now!"

It only took Emma and Regina a second to process what she meant - the crack was reopening - and they were already out of time.

"The cuff!" Regina cried, grabbing it from beside her as the light began to engulf the Princess. Emma held tight to her little doppelganger's hand, to attempt to stop the light from swallowing her whole as Regina rushed over with the cuff. "Emma!"

Just as she reached the girl, the light flashed impossibly bright in front of her, causing Regina to shield her eyes as she still attempted to reach the girl and get the cuff into her hand. It might be too late for magic, but it wasn't too late to get the cuff into her reality, and Regina could only hope that the fairies could use it to devise some sort of plan.

Or, at least, if Emma returned to her own reality face-to-face with the Evil Queen, she might stand a fighting chance with the cuff in her hand.

Regina felt the air around her get warm, and suddenly, it was over. She blinked her eyes a few times, and it only took a split second to realize she wasn't in her backyard anymore.

"Regina! Where the hell are we?" Emma cried, before Regina had a moment to even assess the situation. All she knew was they were suddenly surrounded by trees, but the three of them were still together, at least.

"Shh!" the Princess shushed, her, grabbing both Emma and Regina's hands and pulling them down to crouch with her behind the brush. "The Queen is coming," she whispered.

Regina peered out through the brush, and sure enough, she saw an all too familiar black carriage, surrounded by dark knights, tearing through the path ahead. She tried to get her bearings, quickly realizing that they must be in the princess's reality now, in the Enchanted Forest, but she couldn't tell where in the Enchanted Forest they were, or whether the Evil Queen was headed to the Dark Palace, or away from it.

The three remained in complete silence until they couldn't see the Queen's carriage anymore, and then Regina was the first to stand, and step out of the brush to the road before them.

"That was the crack, wasn't it?" Emma asked, as she came out to join Regina, the princess following close behind. "We're in her reality now."

Regina bit her lip and nodded. "That was quicker than I expected. We've got to work fast if we're going to help her. Emma," she said, turning to the princess, "do you recognize where we are?"

Emma nodded, and pointed down the road to the East. "My palace is that way, just beyond that hill. This is right where I was when I came through the first time."

"Okay, come on, let's hurry," Regina urged. "When I get the palace in sight, I can poof us there."

"It's warded against the Queen's magic," the princess informed her, as she followed behind Regina, "so I think it will be warded against yours, as well. Emma will have to do it."

"I don't know how to poof!" Emma protested.

"It's fine. I'll get us as close as we can, and…" Regina let her voice trail off as she waved her hands mid-step and poofed a glamour onto herself. "And they'll have to just let us in. We can explain everything to Snow and Charming there."

Emma sighed as they approached the top of the hill, looking visibly nervous.

"Emma," Regina said, reaching out to touch her shoulder, picking up on what was causing her to worry. "My house is under a protection spell that will only let your parents and Neal through. Henry will figure out we're gone and he will call them. Nothing's going to happen in Storybrooke."

Emma nodded as the White Palace came into sight. She knew Regina was right, but she also knew Regina was also probably a lot more worried than she was willing to let on. Either way, she knew there was nothing they could do to force the crack to reopen, so she resigned herself to focus on the task at hand, and long as they were here.

"Alright, ready?" Regina asked, putting a hand on each Emma's arm, and poofing the three of them just outside the tall castle walls.

"Halt!" one of the guards boomed immediately, as they rounded the corner to the front entrance. The young princess pushed her way to the front of the group, causing the guard to bow immediately, before eyeing Regina and Emma with undisguised suspicion.

"It's alright, Balthazar, they're friends. They saved me," the Princess informed him. "They're coming in with me."

Balthazar simply nodded, and called two more guards to come and escort the trio inside the castle.

"Regina," Emma exclaimed, as she watch the glamour fade from her the moment she stepped through the gate.

The princess spun around, looking distraught as the guards immediately moved in on Regina. "I told you, the palace is warded against your magic!" the princess cried, stepping between Regina and the approaching guards. "Stand down!" she cried, turning to face them. "She's not the Evil Queen!"

"Step aside, Princess," one of the guards said, making no attempt to slow his approach.

"Stand down!"

Regina's head snapped up at Snow's voice, just in time to see her running toward her daughter. This time, the guard listened, and took a step back as Snow reached Emma and wrapped her arms around her, tightly.

"Baby, are you alright?" Snow cried, as she cupped her daughter's face in her hands and looked her over. She was in the same dress she'd had on the day before - which Regina had washed for her - since they hadn't been able to convince her to wear modern clothing, and Regina was sure Snow was wondering how Emma had managed to stay clean this whole time, as she'd have thought Emma was lost in the woods.

Then again, Regina realized she was _much_ more likely wondering was Emma was doing with her, and attempting to defend her no less.

"I'm fine, Momma. Regina and…" the princess let her voice trail off, realizing she had no idea how to explain Emma to her mother.

"Regina," Snow repeated, bringing her eyes up to meet Regina's for a moment, before turning back to her daughter. "What's going on? Why are you with her? And why did you say she's not the Evil Queen?"

"Because she's not. Momma, she came from another reality. I went to her reality and she came back with me. She's just Regina, she's not dangerous," the princess insisted.

Snow's eyes came up to meet Regina's again. Regina noted that none of the guards had actually stood down yet, but at least Snow had not yet ordered them to attack, considering she was defenseless against them inside the palace walls.

"You came from another reality?" Snow repeated, looking to Regina for an explanation now.

"Yes," Regina confirmed. "One that is a few years ahead of yours, because… this is our Emma," she said, placing a hand on Emma's shoulder again.

Snow's eyes turned to Emma for the first time, and the shock registered on her face as she realized this woman did look just like an older version of her daughter.

Emma offered a small smile, before Regina continued explaining. "Your daughter slipped through what Gold - well, Rumplestiltskin - referred to as a crack. She slipped through to our reality, yesterday, and when the universe tried to correct itself, I guess Emma and I were too close and it pulled us through, too."

"Yesterday?" Snow questioned. "Emma's been gone over a week!"

Regina and Emma exchanged glances, as it registered that time must move differently between the two realities, both coming to the silent realization that they could very well be here for a week before the crack reopened.

"Momma, they can help us. Regina said she can defeat the Evil Queen," the princess said, excitedly. "And I can finally be free."

"Is that true?" Snow asked, looking more suspicious than excited about the news.

Regina sighed, remembering how she had vowed she would take on the Evil Queen herself. It seemed more feasible when it was just an idea, and not an actual threat lurking in the immediate future.

"We both will," Emma spoke up, before Regina had a chance to answer. Regina shot her a questioning look, and Emma just shrugged. "We're here, now. We can come up with a plan, Emma doesn't even have to be involved. Then we'll never have to wonder what happened."

Regina nodded, and sighed again. "You're right. We need to figure out a plan. It's not just the Queen, it's Cora, too. You know how I was with my mother in Storybrooke after only being reunited a short time. I can't imagine how strong the two of them are together. Emma, if we're going to do this, we need to be smart about it."

"Okay. We'll, let's get down to business then."

"Alright, let's take this to the war room," Snow suggested, as she finally took notice of the clothing Emma and Regina were wearing. The strange clothing, Regina guessed, had finally cinched for Snow that they were indeed telling the truth. Either that, or Snow was feeling particularly safe knowing that Regina was completely defenseless in her palace, and wanted to keep her there as long as possible.

The fact that she instructed her guards to accompany Regina and Emma, told her the latter was the case.

"Come on, baby," Snow said, putting her arm around her Emma's shoulders. "Let's go find your father and fill him in. And your brothers will be elated to see you."

Emma smiled, the first real, genuine smile Regina had seen from the girl.

Snow turned back to Emma and Regina before leading her Emma away. "James and I will meet you in the war room shortly."

Regina simply nodded and followed the guards into the adjacent room. Moments later, the Blue Fairy flittered in, and came to hover near Regina's head. Regina rolled her eyes, but guessed she shouldn't be surprised that the pixie was present. She'd probably been there to help from the moment Emma ran off. And she guessed she _really_ shouldn't be surprised that Snow had sent her in to keep an eye on her as well.

"Seriously," Regina scoffed, addressing the fairy without looking at her, "use the mirror. Check in at the Dark Palace. She's there. I'm not her."

Emma offered Regina a reassuring smile as the fairy chose not to acknowledge her. "It'll be fine, Regina," Emma assured her. "We won't be here forever."

Emma knew that Regina wasn't everyone's favourite person in Storybrooke, but she was also sure that paled in comparison to how hated she actually was in the Enchanted Forest. She also figured that being reminded of how hated she was wasn't overly fun for Regina at the moment.

"I know," Regina agreed, as she took a seat at the table and dropped the cuff she was still holding on the surface in front of her. "Let's start making a plan."


	7. Chapter 7

****Chapter Seven****

* * *

"Okay, so we have one cuff, and we both have magic. There's two of us and two of them, so we have the advantage," Emma said, trying to sound optimistic as ever as she and Regina took seats at the large table in the war room. Snow and Charming hadn't returned yet, but Emma saw no reason to waste more time that could be better spent enacting a plan of attack.

"We may have the cuff, but don't kid yourself, Emma, _they_ have the advantage."

"How so?"

"They're _evil_ Emma. I know you don't see that when you look at me, but Emma, evil doesn't fight fair and they are going to be much more willing to hurt us than we are them," Regina explained. "And on top of that, we have to figure out a way to isolate them from each other, because raiding the Dark Palace will just be us marching into our imminent deaths."

"Fine. So how do we get the Evil Queen to _leave_ her palace then?" Emma asked.

"Use me."

Emma and Regina both looked up as the younger Emma entered the war room with her parents.

"She's after me, and she doesn't know that I'm back at the palace. She thinks I'm still lost in the forest. We can set a trap," the princess suggested.

"Absolutely not," Charming cut in. "It's out of the question."

"But!"

"No, I agree with your father," Regina said, cutting the princess off before she could voice her protest. "It's too dangerous. Trust me."

"She's just looking for her," Emma pointed out, looking at the young princess and then back to Regina. "But she doesn't know there are two of us now."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Sorry, dear, but you can't pass for fourteen."

"I can use a glamour," Emma suggested.

"You don't know how."

"So teach me."

Regina sighed, and looked at Emma again. "There's not enough time to teach you, but…"

"But what?"

"I could put it on you."

Emma nodded, quickly. "Okay, so do it. Disguise me as her, I'll take the cuff, I'll trap the Queen."

"It's not that simple, Emma. I can put the glamour on you, but once it's on, you'll have no access to your magic at all. And you won't be able to remove the glamour yourself, either. It's dangerous."

"I can do this," Emma insisted. " _We_ can do this. Put the glamour on me, and use me as bait. We'll get the cuff on the Queen, and get her away from the Dark Palace and away from Cora. She'll be defenseless and this palace is warded against her magic. We can get her in here, and use the cuff on Cora."

"What cuff?" Snow asked, stepping over to the table.

Regina held up the cuff in her hand. "It suppresses magic. It renders the wearer completely powerless. And it works. Trust me."

"You seem to want us to put an awful lot of trust in you, considering we don't even know if you're telling the truth," Charming pointed out.

"She's telling the truth," Blue interjected, and with a wave of her wand a mirror appeared on the table. The group looked on to the image of the Evil Queen and Cora, together in the main room of the Dark Palace.

Regina drew in a deep breath at the sight of her mother, and turned her eyes away. In spite of everything Cora had done to her, seeing her again only brought back the memories of the last moments she'd spent with her mother - the only time she'd ever experienced actual love from her. Regina had let herself forget how much she craved that, but seeing her mother's double, living and breathing before her, sent those feelings rushing back.

Regina steeled her emotions, reminding herself that _that_ woman wasn't her mother.

"So we get the Queen away from Cora and then what? How do we deal with Cora?" Snow asked, as Blue waved her wand to vanish the mirror again.

"Let me take care of that. Cora and I have unfinished business," Regina said, looking down at the table, refusing to meet Snow's gaze.

"She's not-" Emma began, but Regina held up a hand to stop her.

"I know. But I need this."

"And what happens to the Evil Queen?" Snow asked, bringing up the question she was sure was on everyone's minds, though no one wanted to voice their opinion on the matter first.

"We kill her," Charming replied, with a shrug.

"No!" Princess Emma cried, looking at her father in horror, to the surprise of everyone in the room. "We can't kill her. We have to help her. _This_ Regina was once the Evil Queen in her own reality, and she's good now. The Evil Queen can change."

"Emma," Snow sighed, shaking her head, sadly.

"No! Momma, you told me yourself she was once good. She saved you from being killed on that horse, remember? That woman in still inside her, somewhere. We can help her find her goodness again."

"Emma," Regina cut in, looking at the girl, sympathetically. "We already talked about this, remember?"

"You told me you never would have changed, if it weren't for Henry," the princess said, nodding, before looking at Emma, and back to Regina. "But I think it was for more than _just_ Henry. We have to give her a chance."

Emma smiled at her little twin, catching the point she was implying, and turned back to Regina. "She has a point. You got a second chance, she deserves one, too. Let her make her own choice, and hopefully she chooses the right path. You did it, we've got to have faith that she can, too."

"Fine," Regina agreed, before looking up at Snow and Charming. "Are we _all_ in agreement?"

Charming glanced at his wife and daughter, who both pleaded with their eyes for him to side with them on this one. Finally, he let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes. We will give her three days to make a decision. She can stay here, within the palace walls, where her magic is useless, until such a time that we believe she is no longer a threat to anyone, least of all Emma, or she can be executed."

Regina shuddered at the word, even though it wasn't _her_ Charming was referring to, if a few things had gone differently, it very well could have been. And she wasn't sure what choice she would make, given the options.

"Alright, so how will we know when to set the trap?" Regina asked, not wanting to dwell on the possible demise of this world's Evil Queen for the moment.

"She'll be setting out shortly to sweep the land for Emma again. She makes a personal trip twice a day, and she has knights posted all over, looking for Emma. It won't take long for someone to inform her, and she will come," Snow said, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulder and pulling her close, as the idea that the Queen came so close to harming her came back to her again. The fear of what might happen was replaced with the nauseating knowledge of what very well could have happened the moment Emma returned home safely.

"So, then what are we waiting for? Cast the glamour," Emma said, getting up from her seat at the table.

"My magic doesn't work in here," Regina reminded her. "We have to leave the palace walls."

* * *

"Okay, so don't forget: the moment I cast this spell, you won't have magic," Regina reminded Emma, as they stood just past the palace walls, surrounded by Snow's guards.

"Got it. You got my back, right?" Emma said, attempting to hide the nervousness in her voice.

Regina nodded. "Always."

"Then let's do this."

Regina waved her arms, and in a puff of purple smoke, Emma's image was replaced by that of her fourteen-year-old double, right down to the dirty pink dress. Regina had added a few tears for good measure, to make it appear that the princess had truly been running and hiding in the woods for a week.

Regina handed Emma the cuff, which Emma tucked away in her dress, before poofing a glamour onto herself, which forced her to resemble a peasant lady.

"You're magic still works?" Emma asking, confirming what she already knew for the tenth time since they'd decided to actually go ahead with this.

"Yes. Now, I'm going to poof us both to the road near where we came through the crack. Do you remember what to do?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Wander around looking lost until the Queen arrives. You'll be hiding in the bushes, and you'll freeze her knights, and I'll get the cuff on her wrist, and we'll apprehend her."

"And if anything goes wrong?"

"You'll poof me back to the White Palace."

"Good. Okay, it's go time, Emma. Let's do this."

Emma nodded as Regina waved her hands again, poofing Emma and herself back to the woods where they'd first come through. "Okay, Emma, go. Good luck. Don't go far, I need to be able to see you."

Emma nodded, and stepped out onto the path. She looked around, attempting to spot any of the dark knights, but the road looked completely bare.

Or so she thought.

It was mere moments before a puff of purple smoke appeared, and the Evil Queen materialized before her.

Emma swallowed hard, faltering for a moment as she looked into the cold, dark eyes that were _all_ Evil Queen. She didn't even see the slightest hint of Regina buried there.

"Well, well," the Queen drawled, a wicked smirk on her lips. "What do we have here? Princess Emma, in the flesh. I knew you couldn't run forever."

Emma shrugged, nonchalantly. "I'm done running from you."

"Stupid girl," the Queen retorted, before breaking out in a near-cackle. "You will regret this foolishness."

Regina crouched down lower in the bushes, biting her bottom lip nervously as she watched the interaction playing out before her. She silently willed Emma to stop being flippant with the Queen, before she found herself on the business end of a fireball.

Regina glanced to the right, upon hearing the sound of horses in the distance. The Queen had arrived alone, but it appeared the cavalry was on its way.

"Come on, Emma," Regina whispered under her breath, hoping Emma would get the cuff on the Queen before the dark knights arrived, so Regina could just poof Emma and the Queen back to the palace, and replace her own glamour with the likeness of the Evil Queen, and return to the Dark Palace under that disguise.

She hadn't informed anyone else of the second part of her plan, deciding it would be better to handle it herself. All she needed to do was find Cora's heart, in this world, and place it back into her chest. If she waltzed into the Palace _as_ the Evil Queen, they would welcome her with open arms.

Well, perhaps that was an overstatement. They wouldn't kill her, anyway.

But none of that would matter if Emma couldn't get the cuff on the Queen. She needed Emma to work fast, because if she allowed the Knights to see her, transforming herself into the Queen would be out of the question, entirely.

Regina's eyes darted back to the scene before her, and she watched with great relief as Emma slapped the cuff on the Queen, just as the Queen was reaching for her arm.

"Oh, thank God," Regina muttered, and raised her arms to poof them back to the palace. She was stopped abruptly, however, by two strong arms grabbing on to her.

"Just what do you think you're doing in the Queen's forest?"

Regina felt her heart drop to her stomach at the all-too-familiar voice of her mother. She struggled against the Knights' tight grip on her arms, as Cora stepped into her line of sight.

Regina glanced back at Emma and The Queen. The Queen was struggling to get the cuff off, clearly already realizing what it was doing to her, as the knights quickly approached. Regina knew she needed to act fast, as she would only get once chance at magic before Cora put a stop to it.

Regina strained to move her hand, and in one motion, she stripped the glamour from Emma - allowing her access to her magic once more - and poofed Emma and the Queen back to the White Palace, praying that Emma could take it from there, as Regina wasn't sure what her chances of survival were at this point.

"What the hell did you just do?" Cora demanded, with a sharp slap to Regina's face. "Who was that blonde woman, and where did you send them?"

Regina locked her jaw and glared at her mother in the eyes. Clearly, Cora hadn't had a long enough look at Emma to recognize that she was a grown up version of the princess. Cora glared right back, and waved a spell over Regina. It wasn't a stretch for Regina to recognize that Cora had just effectively blocked her magic, but she tried in vain to access it, anyway.

"Take her to the palace and throw her in the dungeon," Cora instructed the Knights. "Instruct the rest of the guard to sweep the land for your Queen, but don't lay a finger on this one. _I_ will be the one to make her talk."

Regina shuddered, remembering all too well what it was like to be on the receiving end of Cora's dark magic, as the guards dragged her to the waiting carriage.

But she steeled her resolve. She wouldn't talk. It was more than just the princess Emma, or Snow or Charming who were in danger now. It was _Emma_.

Her Emma.

She had to have faith that Emma could handle the Queen, and that she, herself could stay alive long enough for the crack to reopen. Then she and Emma could return home, and the fairies would just have to figure out a way to deal with Cora themselves.

After all, she and Emma had just risked their lives to neutralize half the enemy, in a reality they didn't even belong to, but she would be damned if she was going to die here and never return to Henry.

And she would be damned if she was about to lead Cora straight to Emma and lose her here, either.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

* * *

It happened too quickly for Emma to even process. The cuff was on the Queen, her galmour was stripped from her, and suddenly she and the Evil Queen stood just before the walls of the White Palace, as close as Regina could get them with the wards on her magic.

It was a mere disoriented moment before Snow White and Prince Charming's guards ascended on the Evil Queen, and dragged her into the courtyard. They were taking her to the tower, this much Emma knew, and without access to her magic, the Evil Queen was no match for the dozens of guards surrounding her.

Emma glanced around. Regina was nowhere in sight, and Emma had the sinking feeling that she was going to attempt to take on Cora herself, right now. She knew that's what Regina wanted, but she wished she'd at least let her in on the plan, whatever it was. The fact that she didn't, told Emma that either she didn't actually _have_ a plan, or that the plan she did have was dangerous enough that Emma would try to stop her.

She wasn't sure which option was worse.

Either way, she didn't know how to poof, and even if she did, she didn't know exactly where they had come through the crack so she couldn't get back to Regina right now. Not without help. She turned quickly and dashed through the courtyard, sprinting into the palace in search of Blue, in hopes that she could help her locate Regina in this realm.

It didn't take long for Emma to locate Snow, Charming and Blue in the war room, discussing plans for the Evil Queen's execution. Blue and Charming seemed quite enthusiastic, though Snow appeared to be much more withdrawn from the conversation.

"You're not killing her," Emma said, a little breathless from running, as she entered the room. " _We_ made a decision, remember?"

"With all due respect, Emma, this isn't your reality and it's really not your call," Charming insisted, though Emma couldn't help but pick up on the pleading look in Snow's eyes.

But Emma had a bigger concern at the moment.

"I lost Regina," Emma said, making her way over to the table.

"No, the guards took her to the tower," Snow said, solemnly.

"No, _my_ Regina. She poofed me and the Queen here, but she didn't come back with us. I think she's going to take on Cora herself, right now, and I have a bad feeling that something is wrong. I need you to help me find her."

Emma turned to Blue, her imploring the fairy to help. Blue rolled her eyes and used her wand to reproduce the mirror and hone in on Regina. It took a moment to separate the Regina in the tower from Emma's Regina, but soon enough, the image of a peasant woman being dragged to the dungeon of the Dark Palace appeared on the mirror.

"That's her!" Emma cried. "That's the glamour she had on! They captured her! We have to help her!"

She spun around to face Snow and Charming, who were exchanging worried glances with each other.

"Snow," Charming said, shaking his head at his wife, who looked like she was about to agree with Emma. "It's too dangerous. You know better than anyone that Cora is ten times worse than Regina. We've lost too many in this battle already. We can't send more good people to their deaths over another Evil Queen."

Emma felt her heart drop to her stomach. She was about to jump to Regina's defense, when Snow beat her to the punch.

"Charming, when did we become such cowards? _This_ Regina risked her life to save our daughter, and you're suggesting that we just let her die at the hands of Cora?"

"What else would you suggest, Snow? We're no match for her."

"Maybe not, but Emma is," Snow said, turning to Emma. "We know our daughter has magic - the strongest light magic in this realm. But she also has the potential for great darkness, and as such, we've had to make the decision to shield her from it. But you, Blue tells us she can sense the same light magic in you, without the darkness. You could defeat Cora."

Emma nodded slowly thinking for a moment. "I know how we can beat her, without any more death."

"How?" Snow asked, turning to Emma hopefully.

"Her heart. In my world, Regina replaced Cora's heart, and she was able to love again - briefly, before she died. But here… here there's no… curse on her heart. I know it will do the same thing. We have to get her heart back into her chest, and she'll release my Regina, I'm sure of it."

"Emma, you're putting a lot of faith in the idea that our realities will be similar when they are clearly so different," Charming pointed out.

"Maybe so, but we have to try. If it doesn't work, I'll use my magic. I know how. And you're right - it is strong. But I want to try this first. I need to speak to the Queen."

* * *

Emma breathed a nervous sigh as she trudged up the seemingly endless stairs to the top of the tower, where the Evil Queen was being held prisoner. It disturbed her that in this reality her parents even _had_ a prison in their palace, but she guessed in a world without police and the criminal justice system, the Monarchy had free reign.

And that terrified her.

At least, she supposed, this palace didn't have a dungeon, though that didn't ease her mind in the slightest, since she knew that Regina was now in the dungeon of the Dark Palace.

The Evil Queen sat with her back straight and her head held high, regal as ever on the cot in her cell, dressed only in a grey robe now, her long hair in a low ponytail. The simple attire did nothing to make her look less imposing, however, as Emma noted the challenging look in her eye right away.

But she wasn't going to be intimidated by this Regina look-a-like, not when _Regina_ was in danger and needed her help, quickly.

"So," the Queen drawled, as Emma approached the bars, "Snow White has acquired yet another sorceress to do her bidding, I see."

"I'm not a sorceress," Emma said, flatly.

"Oh? Well, the use of all this magic was slightly misleading then," the Queen said with a shrug, holding up the hand that bore the magical cuff.

Emma smirked and with a flick of her wrist, the cuff appeared in her own hand, and she quickly tucked it away in her jacket pocket, for when she met Cora. "Oh, I have magic."

"Clearly," the Queen noted, her dark eyes roaming over Emma's body. "And you're clearly not from here," she continued, taking stock of Emma's attire.

"No, I'm not."

"So they fetched you from another realm to aid in my defeat, is that it?"

"No. They didn't fetch me, I came through on my own. And I'm not here to defeat you. I'm here to save you," Emma insisted.

"Save me from what, dear?" The Queen asked with a dark smirk as she rose and stepped to the bars. Emma resisted the urge to step back on impulse, and held her ground.

"Yourself," Emma replied, with a shrug. "And perhaps your mother. You must be sick of doing her bidding by now."

"Don't talk to me about my mother, stupid girl. You don't know anything."

"Don't I? I know that she doesn't have a heart. And I know that it tears you up inside that no matter what you do you can't make her love you, because she _can't_. You're never good enough for her, are you? No matter how many lives you destroy, no matter how dark you get, she still reminds you every day how much you failed her, doesn't she?"

"Shut your mouth you filthy peasant!"

"Princess," Emma corrected.

The Queen raised an eyebrow. "A princess, are you? A princess determined to save the Evil Queen? Why is that, I wonder?"

"Because I know for a fact that you _can_ be saved."

"You know nothing."

"You're wrong. But there is one thing I need to know from you. Where is Cora's heart?"

The Queen threw her head back in an evil cackle. "Oh, you really think I'm going to lead you straight to the one thing you need to kill my mother? You are stupider than I thought! I will _never_ tell you that."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

Regina wrapped her arms around herself, in an attempt to block out the damp chill of the dungeon air. It was dark, and dirty, and she tried to block out the distinct scurry of rats around her. As she sat on the bare hard wood cot, her knees pulled up to her chest, she wondered if this was karma. How many people had she sent to this very dungeon, after all? How many had been innocents?

She shuddered at the thought, as she tried in vain to gain access to her magic. She could still feel it, inside her, but Cora's blocking spell was strong.

She bit her lip and silently wished that she'd informed Emma of her plan. She shouldn't have attempted this one on her own, she realized, but thinking things through was not always her strongest suit. She held onto hope that Emma and the Charmings would devise a plan. After all, they had the fairies, and the cuff, and Emma's relentless determination on their side, and half the threat already neutralized. Of course they would come for her.

Of course Emma would.

Regina's ears picked up on the distinct sound of heels clicking their way down the stone corridor, and she knew that the person coming for her right now was anyone _but_ Emma. She steeled her face as best she could as the glow of the torch drew near, casting dim light over her as Cora emerged on the other side of the iron bars.

"One chance, peasant," Cora spat at her, and Regina shivered against the familiar coldness in her voice. "Tell me where my daughter is, and I will let you go."

"No, you won't," Regina replied flatly. "The moment I tell you, you will kill me. The way I see it, my best chance at survival is keeping my mouth shut."

"Is that so? You know, there are other ways of making you talk," Cora grinned, holding up her hand and cupping it before her, as if she were strangling someone.

And she was. Regina felt her airways begin to constrict immediately. But this was nothing she hadn't felt before, and usually at the hands of her mother, anyway, and she remained calm, never breaking eye contact with Cora, even as she began to see spots before her eyes.

She was stronger than this. She'd lived through this before, and she would again, she reminded herself.

A few moments later, when Regina knew she was on the brink of passing out, Cora dropped her magical hold, and Regina fell forward onto the floor on her hands and knees, gasping for air.

"Get up!" Cora barked, but Regina ignored her as she kept trying to refill her aching lungs. In a moment, she felt her body lifting up in spite of her, as Cora used her magic to force her to her feet.

Cora studied Regina's face closely, and suddenly Regina wondered if Cora had figured out she was wearing a glamour. She guessed her mother should be able to sense the magic, especially in this close of proximity. Her suspicion was confirmed as Cora spoke again.

"Magic," Cora whispered, almost disapprovingly. "Well, let's see who you really are."

Regina closed her eyes as she began to feel the glamour being ripped from her body - painfully, even though she knew it didn't _have_ to be painful, Cora was just choosing to make it so - and she wondered exactly what she was supposed to do once Cora saw her true face.

She guessed, in mere moments, she'd know.


End file.
